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It seems ridiculous that companies in the U.S. could ever sell products that contain no Hoodia when they claim Hoodia as an ingredient. The reason why this problem is so prevalent is because:
1. In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which allows the dietary supplement industry to regulate itself rather than the government.
2. The dietary supplement market has high margins, and thus there is a lot of money to be made.
3. There are very little initial costs and overhead required to get into this business.
4. When plants are in powdered form, it is very difficult to identify the plant other than using costly scientific testing procedures (TLC, HPLC, and Microscopy), which are too expensive for most consumers to perform.
Thus,
(High Margins + little overhead + difficulty to verify product quality) - Government regulation and monitoring = The corruption that is so prevalent in the Hoodia Industry
Crooks can enter this industry, market the heck out of their fake Hoodia product, and walk away after 2 years with lots of money. Unsuspecting customers are left holding the bill.
The Math in this Industry Does Not Add Up
As I mentioned before, I have been to South Africa 3 times and to meet the Bushmen in the Kalahari once. Hoodia gordonii only grows in southern Africa, and South Africa is the only country that is currently exporting Hoodia. Currently, there is approximately 1000kg of Hoodia coming out of South Africa on a monthly basis.
Here is some math:
1 capsule = 400mg Hoodia
60 capsules = 1 bottle
1kg Hoodia gordonii powder = 40 bottles
Thus, currently the Hoodia industry can produce 40,000 bottles of Hoodia per month (40 bottles per kg. x 1000kg per month)
Hoodia is huge all over the world. A lot of foreign companies are buying up the Hoodia out of South Africa and taking it all over the world, thus using up a lot of the existing supply, putting more strain on the small industry of 1000kg per month. It would be nearly impossible for companies get enough Hoodia to legitimately produce enough bottles to supply the major retail centers like Wal-Mart and GNC (however, somehow there are companies that are supplying these retailers with what they claim to be “Hoodia”).
Real Hoodia in bulk powder is extremely expensive (supply and demand) and unless many of these other companies know something I don’t know, there is no way that they could be selling their Hoodia for some of the extremely low prices I see on the internet.
Bottom Line...there is not enough Hoodia in the whole world to be selling the quantities or at the low price point that many of the companies are currently selling.
Final Thoughts
The truth of the matter is there is no silver bullet. If you want to achieve long-term weight-loss, you must change your lifestyle. But Hoodia does work! I have personally tried it and it successfully suppressed my appetite, and my father is now at a healthy weight because of taking Hoodia.
With all my experience in Hoodia, I know that it has the ability to help people gain control over their appetite enough to begin changing their lifestyle. Because it is a natural product, and has no known side effects, I believe that anyone who is serious about losing weight should be taking real Hoodia. The appetite control that Hoodia offers can easily mean the difference between a lifestyle change that works or fails.
Source: By Kedric Van de Carr, from websitetoolbox.com |
